


Funerals

by NBvagabond



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: F/F, Raven Queen - Freeform, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 11:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11966352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NBvagabond/pseuds/NBvagabond
Summary: A woman is requested. She isn't needed, but at the same time, she is.





	Funerals

Mai was not a fan of funerals. They were always too stiff, and formal. A dead body laying out in a coffin for people to just… look at. Family reciting written memories as if they’ve already forgotten their personality in the three days since they died.

When Ophelia, one of the Raven Sisters, had died, they didn’t have a funeral. There was no stranger reeling off pre-written passages from a little book. They all mumbled their own prayers and thoughts as they worked.  
No one called on each of them too read out their speeches. They said what they wanted, as they saw fit.  
No one here was speaking ill of the dead man, either. All their stories were so perfect and happy, so unrealistic. At Ophelia’s burial, there was talk of the horrible things she had done just as much as the good. It kept them grounded, reminded them she was as fallible as any of them, as mortal. As mortal as most of them, at least.

A warm wind blew through the trees, rustling leaves and encouraging birds to call. Mai watched members of the black-clad group frown. It was like they wanted the day to be as sad as they were, as if their mother was more important than the life-cycle of the trees and the seasons and the animals, as if everything should stop being so full of life while they all stood around a cold corpse. So many people were angry at death. They acted as if a life was only worth something while it was going, as though nothing continued on. They were here, weren’t they? Their mother had created them and yes, her life may be ended but it certainly wasn’t gone.  
The people angry at death often called upon the Raven Mother’s followers to watch over their funerals, as though they might turn back the hands of fate. They were all so selfish.

When Ophelia had died, Mai had felt angry. She felt angry at her Mother, for allowing this, at the healers for not finding the cancer earlier, at everything. Ophelia had all but raised her, and died far too young, even for a human.  
When Ophelia was buried, Mai felt her anger melt away, and she understood. All other lives must end, and their loved ones must continue on. And Mai must be there to make sure of it.

“This is bullshit,” she murmured to Juana, next to her. “Let’s leave. They don’t really want me here.”  
Juana didn’t move, her eyes tracking the birds as they fluttered through leaves and branches. “No,” she said quietly, “but they need you.” She slipped her hand into Mai’s, holding her there on the soft grass.

**Author's Note:**

> These are my NPCs from my home DnD game. If people enjoy this, I may publish more about them - maybe some of Juana's backstory


End file.
